Deceased 'Deadliest Catch' captain's son Jake Harris arrested for DUI

By Christopher Rocchio, 02/22/2010

Deadliest Catch star Jake Harris has been arrested on drunk driving charges only a few weeks after his father died following a stroke while the show was filming his Cornelia Marie vessel fishing during Alaska's 2010 opolio crab season.

ADVERTISEMENT

Harris was charged with DUI, driving with a suspended license and hit and run after police claim he crashed his car late Thursday night while driving intoxicated, Peoplereported Friday.

He is currently in a Seattle jail with bail set at $2,000.

"Mr. Harris was spotted driving a BMW 3 Series erratically Thursday evening by a citizen in Shoreline, Wa. We were able to locate his vehicle by aircraft, and he was pulled over in the Seattle area. The car was registered to his father," Washington State Patrol spokesman Dan McDonald told People.

"He failed a field sobriety test and refused to take a toxicological test. After further investigation, it was found that he was involved in a hit and run with another occupied vehicle earlier in the evening. He had rear-ended another car."

Harris' 53-year-old father Phil Harris suffered a stroke while the Cornelia Marie was docked on St. Paul Island in Alaska and off-loading on January 29.

He was airlifted to Anchorage where he underwent 12 hours of surgery the following day and was then put in a medically induced coma to reduce brain swelling. While he had exited the coma and began to show signs of recovery, he subsequently passed away on February 9.

"The old man, he had a lot of buddies," Jake told People about his father during a small gathring honoring his life on February 13. "We didn't want to make it really sad. So we picked somewhere the old man, you know, loved to go, and hopefully we will tell stories about what a good life he led."

In addition, Jake said he was going to look at his father's captain seat "in a different way."

"We definitely talked about it, but I just didn't expect this to happen so soon," Jake told People.